Olin Business School’s MBA program moved up four spots to #31 in the biennial Forbes ranking of Best Business Schools. The rankings will be published in the print edition of the magazine Sept. 11, 2015 and available online. Link here.

Forbes’ rankings are based on the return on investment over the five years post graduation. This year’s survey is based on data provided by the school’s full time MBA class of 2010

Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor at Forbes, explains the methodology, “We compared the alumni earnings in their first five years out of business school to their opportunity cost (two years of forgone compensation, tuition and required fees). We measure total compensation, including salary, bonuses and exercised stock options.

“We assume that compensation would have risen half as fast as their post-M.B.A. salary increases had these alumni not attended business school. The ‘5-year M.B.A. gain’ represents the net cumulative amount the typical alumni would have earned after five years by getting their M.B.A. versus staying in their pre-M.B.A. career.”

The schools are all ranked based on their 5-year M.B.A. gain. Schools were not included if alumni response rate fell below 15% or the ROI was negative after five years.